The Washington Post has a good article reviewing lawmakers’ efforts to pass legislation limiting online companies’ tracking of children’s online behavior. The article goes on to share information about school and parent perspectives in working with their preteens to prevent their use of social networking sites until the allowed age of 13. The author makes the point that the young users of the sites are often not monitored by their parents when they usually would be in other social environments like school, on the playground, playing with friends at home, etc.
At my K-8 school, it is evident how adults provide support and help prevent social issues from expanding. The supportive environment provides students with the skills needed to handle social issues better. One can see how online engagements can quickly erupt into cases of cyberbullying when there are no adults to step in and provide support and guidance.
The article mentions the value of school efforts to teach and empower students to make good decisions in how they use and post information on the Web and the importance of providing parents with educational support materials. This supports ongoing school efforts to develop and implement the Information & Communications Literacies (ICL) curriculum, starting with the youngest students.
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